Do it like Belly...

I am the only one worried that England's A-grade talents will be coached by Ian Bell? Presumably he's there to work on 'body language' and 'presence' (for their walk back to the pavilion after a well-made 15).

England set to call time on Harmison

The England selectors will today reveal their Test and one-day squads for the winter tour of South Africa with Steve Harmison’s international future and the balance of the Test side the pressing concerns.

Ever since Duncan Fletcher’s reign, England have been wedded to a policy of playing five frontline bowlers. A luxury that most other sides can rarely afford, it is a strategy that captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower are staunch defenders of.

While England’s top six have misfired for a few years, Jonathan Trott’s assured century in the last Ashes test and Kevin Pietersen’s expected return to the side, means Ravi Bopara is the only batsmen likely to miss out. Bopara’s career is drawing unwelcome comparisons with fateful figures of Mark Ramprakash and Graeme Hick. Joe Denly, meanwhile, has promised enough in his recent one-day outings to tour both as a backup batsman and a possible challenger to opener Alastair Cook.

With Flintoff now retired, concerns linger over pairing Matt Prior and Stuart Broad at six and seven against a strong quartet of South African pacemen. It would mean bringing Tim Bresnan or even Liam Plunkett in at eight to bulk up a lower-order that was so instrumental to the Ashes success. Both are worthy triers and enjoyed good domestic seasons but lack class with the ball and appear better suited lower down the order in Test cricket.

The pace and bounce of the pitches seen in South Africa during the Champions Trophy have drawn calls for Harmison’s inclusion. But he insists he won’t travel as a backup and guaranteeing a starting spot for a notoriously bad tourist could prove a gamble too far. Dropping Harmison would end a frustrating career and signal a commitment to the future.

James Anderson, Broad and Graham Onions each had their moments this summer, proving dangerous when conditions suited but none are natural enforcers in the way Flintoff was and Harmison should have been. This lack of incisiveness is what makes a fifth bowler attractive. Yet a dearth of obvious candidates means Ryan Sidebottom will probably tour as a backup seamer. Sidebottom was fortunate to receive a central contract and has done little over the last year to counter suggestions that he is a spent force at Test level.

Test squad (possible): 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Ian Bell, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Jonathan Trott, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Graham Onions, 12 Joe Denly, 13 James Foster (wk), 14 Tim Bresnan, 15 Adil Rashid, 16 Ryan Sidebottom.

ODI squad (possible): 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Joe Denly, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Owais Shah, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Luke Wright, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Graeme Swann, 11 James Anderson, 12 Graham Onions, 13 Ryan Sidebottom, 14 Tim Bresnan, 15 Adil Rashid.

Champion Disappointment

A short tournament with the world’s best teams seemed just what one-day cricket needed after a pitiful England Australia series. Yet with just the final remaining, the only remotely close finish the Champions Trophy’s 13 matches has produced was Australia’s last-ball victory over Pakistan last Wednesday.

Read the rest over at The Wisden Cricketer blog

Agents need regulating as Flintoff goes freelance

Flintoff’s rejection of an England central contract is another triumph for private capital over national good. It was the England and Lancashire teams that nurtured his development into an international star worthy of private interest, yet as he’s auctioned-off around the world it's Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler who collects the rewards.

There is nothing new about mercenary cricket. After all, the sport developed with wealthy English patrons hiring freelance ‘professionals’ in the 1700s. Of course back then the game was also defined by gambling and match-fixing. But in today’s post-crisis age of austerity it is particularly galling to read Chandler gloating about the deals he is to make.

Yet concerns that freelance cricketers embody a final ‘globalisation’ of the sport remain unfounded.

Developing a gifted child into a world-class athlete is a lengthy and risky investment. Even now the ECB pays for Flintoff’s rehabilitation. National boards have to realise that they remain central to the developing world order. Young players must still learn in domestic cricket before getting the chance to play abroad. They should use this power to ensure a cut of the deals and protect the interests of the national team.

It’s time to regulate the agents and ensure successful cricketers return money to the people that made them instead.

Writing history - Cricinfo's all-time XI

It's said that control of the present brings control of the past. With the Cricinfo all-time XI project announcing the selection of the all-time England team, the internet has cemented itself as the primary voice of cricket - present and past.

The flexibility and global reach of the internet is ousting the elite position of print throughout the media, and cricket, hardly the most global sport, has embraced the internet like no other.

As cricket’s online HQ, Cricinfo has a responsibility to foster interest and education on the sport's history. The all-time project is clearly a recognition of this.

It is a pity that all members of the selection panel were English, it would have been fascinating to see how English cricketing history is filtered through India or Pakistan, for example.

Nevertheless, the chosen England XI has already sparked debate on the blogs. Predictably, most posts are from people who, like me, began their obsession in the 1990s. Yet it has given us the forum to carry cricket’s past into the future.

My All-Time England XI* (*Since 1993)

Trescothick
Atherton
Vaughan (c)
Thorpe
Pietersen
Stewart (wk)
Flintoff
Swann
Gough
Fraser
Hoggard

12th Man: Nasser Hussain
Coach: Duncan Fletcher

Ashes win boosts the FTSE

Apologies for not posting. I have spent every waking hour squeezing 15,000 words out of myself for a masters dissertation on financial speculation due next week.

Amusingly, today The Guardian reported that the Ashes euphoria had hit the stock markets. Traders, carrying the heady Sunday feeling into Monday's morning, had apparently 'renewed their confidence' in the UK economy.

It's as solid as a 'renewed confidence' in Ian Bell.

The 'Golden Age' of batting exposed

Day 2 - Close

In years to come, today’s play will form delirious memories and nostalgic ad campaigns.

Thirteen wickets fell in two sessions to leave England within touching distance of a glory that yesterday seemed to have eluded them.

The day shed light on the so-called ‘golden age of batting’. Never before have so many batsmen in the world averaged in the 50s, never have so many runs been scored so quickly and so often.

Yet today exposed how the flat pitches that dominate Test cricket are entrenched in the mental and technical make-up of batsmen. When confronted with a remotely sporting wicket, they folded instantly.

No batsman fell to a grubber, no ball leaped off a length; instead wickets were earned through a spell of quality seam bowling, lively spin bowling and some questionable decisions. It’s difficult to believe more defensively equipped players, like Rahul Dravid or Shiv Chanderpaul, would have crumbled in the same way.

If Test cricket is to really live up to its name, more fair pitches should be prepared. Scoring runs should be a challenge not a formality.

As Strauss and Katich showed, the gremlins today were more in the head than the pitch. Ashes pressure, so often England’s undoing, proved Australia's nemesis. But it was Stuart Broad, timing his coming of age to coincide with Flintoff’s retirement, that unleashed the doubts in Australian heads.

Australia's three wickets gives them a sliver of hope, but the series now is England's to lose.